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Orbits


Tyneside, UK
2023 Dec 6
Wednesday, Day 340

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Primary source of unclassified orbital elements

Orbital elements based on amateur observations
Sun-synchronous Satellites - Meteorology by LTDN

This a list of satellites in sun-synchronous orbit shown in the order they lie around the Earth. Names are not necessarily those by which they are known in the NORAD catalogue used by SpaceTrack.

It is a snapshot and is updated daily. The measure that results in an entry in this table is that the drift rate of LTDN (Local Time at the Descending Node) is no more than twenty four minutes each year. Some satellites may have higher drift rates but they may still be acceptable to their owners/operators. They do not appear here. On the converse, although a satellite is in a sun-synchronous orbit, it is not necessarily active.

Cubesats less than 6U in size are excluded from the list because the vast majority reached space by hitch hiking and their final orbit was not important. Listing them would create an unnecessarily long page.

The menu on the left leads to some, hopefully useful, sub-lists of the satellites on this page.

Updated: 2023 Dec 6, 03:48 UTC

LTDN Satellite Cat
no
Desig- nation Orbit
Epoch
Orbit
00:00Nimbus 4 (Nimbus D)43621970-025A2023 Dec 51086 x 1098 km, 107.1 min, 100°.0
00:03ESSA 220911966-016A2023 Dec 51354 x 1414 km, 113.4 min, 101°.2
01:25NOAA 20 (JPSS, Joint Polar Satellite System 1)430132017-073A2023 Dec 5826 x 828 km, 101.4 min, 98°.7
02:05NOAA 17274532002-032A2023 Dec 5798 x 816 km, 101.0 min, 98°.7
02:09ESSA 836151968-114A2023 Dec 51414 x 1463 km, 114.6 min, 101°.6
02:14Fengyun 3A (Fengyun 3-01)329582008-026A2023 Dec 5823 x 834 km, 101.5 min, 98°.6
02:40AMS 4 (DMSP 5D-1 F-4)113891979-050A2023 Dec 5788 x 805 km, 100.8 min, 98°.5
03:03Meteor M-1358652009-049A2023 Dec 5814 x 819 km, 101.2 min, 98°.6
03:16Meteor M2-2443872019-038A2023 Dec 5811 x 814 km, 101.1 min, 98°.8
03:37NOAA 5 (ITOS H)90571976-077A2023 Dec 51509 x 1523 km, 116.3 min, 102°.2
03:54USA 210 (DMSP 5D-3 F-18)359512009-057A2023 Dec 5838 x 854 km, 101.8 min, 98°.8
04:32Fengyun 1B (Fengyun 1-02)207881990-081A2023 Dec 5872 x 896 km, 102.6 min, 98°.9
04:33NOAA 10169691986-073A2023 Dec 5788 x 805 km, 100.8 min, 98°.6
05:04NOAA 12212631991-032A2023 Dec 5795 x 814 km, 101.0 min, 98°.5
05:20NOAA 8139231983-022A2023 Dec 5783 x 806 km, 100.8 min, 98°.7
05:37Fengyun 3E (Fengyun 3-05)490082021-062A2023 Dec 5826 x 827 km, 101.4 min, 98°.7
05:43USA 249 (DMSP 5D-3 F-19)396302014-015A2023 Dec 5837 x 852 km, 101.8 min, 98°.8
06:06USA 109 (DMSP 5D-2 F-13)235331995-015A2023 Dec 5834 x 842 km, 101.7 min, 98°.8
06:20USA 191 (DMSP 5D-3 F-17)295222006-050A2023 Dec 5837 x 852 km, 101.8 min, 98°.8
06:47NOAA 6114161979-057A2023 Dec 5769 x 786 km, 100.4 min, 98°.6
07:25NOAA 15253381998-030A2023 Dec 5796 x 811 km, 101.0 min, 98°.6
07:32USA 73 (DMSP 5D-2 F-11)217981991-082A2023 Dec 5826 x 846 km, 101.6 min, 98°.8
08:23USA 131 (DMSP 5D-2 F-14)247531997-012A2023 Dec 5832 x 844 km, 101.7 min, 98°.9
09:09USA 106 (DMSP 5D-2 S-12)232331994-057A2023 Dec 5831 x 848 km, 101.7 min, 98°.8
09:16NOAA 1 (ITOS A)47931970-106A2023 Dec 51423 x 1472 km, 114.8 min, 101°.5
09:27MetOp-B387712012-049A2023 Dec 5820 x 821 km, 101.3 min, 98°.7
09:29MetOp-C436892018-087A2023 Dec 5819 x 821 km, 101.3 min, 98°.7
10:35NOAA 18286542005-018A2023 Dec 5839 x 859 km, 101.9 min, 98°.9
13:12TIROS 1014301965-051A2023 Dec 5716 x 796 km, 99.9 min, 98°.4
14:19DMSP 5A F-2 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)35101968-092A2023 Dec 5778 x 822 km, 100.9 min, 98°.5
17:18DMSP 5B F-3 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)62751972-089A2023 Dec 5771 x 822 km, 100.8 min, 98°.5
17:55DMSP 5D-2 F-6 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)137361982-118A2023 Dec 5787 x 798 km, 100.7 min, 98°.6
17:55USA 26 (DMSP 5D-2 F-8)181231987-053A2023 Dec 5820 x 837 km, 101.5 min, 98°.7
18:34AMS 3 (DMSP 5D-1 F-3)108201978-042A2023 Dec 5765 x 777 km, 100.3 min, 98°.5
19:14DMSP 5C F-1 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)74111974-063A2023 Dec 5767 x 826 km, 100.8 min, 98°.6
19:15DMSP 5C F-2 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)78161975-043A2023 Dec 5773 x 849 km, 101.1 min, 98°.7
20:32DMSP 4A F-9 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)29201967-080A2023 Dec 5814 x 871 km, 101.8 min, 98°.7
20:36DMSP 5A F-3 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program)40471969-062A2023 Dec 5763 x 828 km, 100.8 min, 98°.5
22:40Nimbus 3 (Nimbus B2)38901969-037A2023 Dec 51070 x 1130 km, 107.3 min, 99°.8
23:15Nimbus 5 (Nimbus E)63051972-097A2023 Dec 51088 x 1100 km, 107.1 min, 99°.9
23:27Nimbus 6 (Nimbus F)79241975-052A2023 Dec 51101 x 1112 km, 107.4 min, 100°.0

For the satellites that do not have formal published elements, thanks go to the radio and visual amateur satellite trackers for their observing, and particularly to Mike McCants for archiving the derived orbits.

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